Screening Service Monthly Cost Planning Guide: How to budget reasonably for overseas customer acquisition

For overseas marketing teams, cross-border e-commerce and community operators, the validity and activity of batch detection numbers is an indispensable part of the customer acquisition process. Screening service can help you eliminate invalid, silent or gender-mismatched numbers from a large number of numbers, thereby improving reach efficiency. But many teams are confused when they first contact them: How much budget should they spend every month? Is recharging too much a waste, or recharging too little is not enough? This article provides you with a practical monthly cost planning method to help you balance budget and customer acquisition efficiency. Note: Please refer to the real-time price of the console for all specific unit prices. Different platforms and detection types have different fees.

What is the screening service? Why do overseas teams need to plan and budget on a monthly basis?

The core of the number screening service is to batch verify whether the number has opened the corresponding social platform (such as Telegram, WhatsApp), whether it is active, and whether attributes such as gender and even age can be identified. For example: You have a list of 10 million mobile phone numbers and want to promote male users in the Indonesian market through Telegram private messages. If they are sent directly without screening, 40% of them may have never registered on Telegram, 30% have been inactive for a long time, and half of the remaining 30% are women. The actual effective reach rate is extremely low and takes up a lot of sending resources. Through the number screening service, you can first filter out the numbers that are “activated + active in the past 7 days + male gender”, and then push them together, and the conversion rate will naturally increase.

The significance of planning a budget on a monthly basis is:

• Control Customer Acquisition Cost: Avoid excessive one-time recharge leading to idle funds, or insufficient recharge to interrupt the transaction.
• Optimize detection strategy: Adjust the detection volume and detection depth of the next month based on the actual pass rate of the previous month (open only vs. active + gender).
• Avoid sudden increase or insufficient balance: By estimating the number of tests required each month, recharge scientifically (minimum of about 50 USDT) to achieve rolling expenditures.

What factors will affect your monthly cost of screening services?

The monthly cost is not a fixed value and is mainly affected by the following variables. Understanding these variables allows you to make an accurate budget.

Platform selection and detection depth

The unit prices for different platforms (Telegram/WhatsApp/Line/Zalo/iMessage/RCS, etc.) are different. Even on the same platform, detection types are divided into multiple depths:

• Open detection only: Only verify whether the number is registered on the platform, the cost is the lowest.
• Activation+Activity Detection: Adds the ability to determine whether there has been online behavior in the past 7 days/last 30 days, the cost is medium.
• Activation+Activity+Gender Detection: Additional identification of user gender (some also include fields such as age group, avatar, etc.), the highest cost.

For example, when doing Telegram marketing, if you only require activation, the budget can be kept low; but if the market is for male groups (such as games, finance), it is recommended to choose gender-inclusive detection to avoid wasting on female users. For specific fee combinations, please select the detection type directly on the console and view the estimated deductions.

Monthly detection volume and task frequency

Do you test 100,000 items in batches at once every month, or test 3,000 items in batches every day? Impact of task frequency:

• Single detection volume: If the amount submitted at one time is large, full deduction may be triggered; if submitted separately, duplication can be interspersed to reduce duplication.
• Balance Consumption Rhythm: Centralized detection will cause the balance to drop significantly in the short term; decentralized detection makes it easier to monitor consumption.

It is recommended to determine the daily testing volume based on the pace of customer acquisition, and then multiply it by 30 days to get a monthly estimate. At the same time, reserve 5%–10% margin to deal with unexpected needs.

The budget-saving effect of data deduplication

Most teams’ numbers come from multiple channels (such as exhibitions, API purchases, exchange lists), and the proportion of duplicate numbers may be as high as 15%–30%. If the test is repeated each time, the fee will be deducted again. Using the platform’s built-in data deduplication warehouse, you can compare numbers across tasks and avoid multiple deductions for the same number. Savings effect of deduplication warehouse:

• The duplication ratio is usually between 5%–20%, depending on your number management habits.
• For example: Suppose you test 100,000 items per month and the repetition rate is 15%, you can save about 15,000 items in cost. For teams with multiple batches or multiple imports, deduplication is an extremely cost-effective means of budget control.

How to estimate the number of tests required per month based on the customer acquisition target?

The core formula is simple:

Number of target hits ÷ Average screening pass rate = Number of required tests

The “average screening pass rate” here usually needs to be obtained through small sample testing. The pass rates of different platforms and different detection types vary greatly:

Platform	Only open pass rate (common)	Open + active + gender pass rate (common)
Telegram	50%–70%	30%–50% (depending on the market)
WhatsApp	60%–80%	40%–60%
Line	40%–80% (lower for Japan and Thailand)	20%–40% (after gender filtering)
Zalo	50%–70% (Vietnam)	30%–50%

Example: You want to reach 5,000 active male users on Telegram. If you directly send 100,000 numbers without any screening, of which only 50,000 may have opened TG, 30,000 have been active in the past 7 days, and 15,000 are men, the final reach rate will be 15%. Then you need to detect about 33,333 (5000 ÷ 15%). But if you do activation+active+gender testing, the pass rate may be around 30% (depending on the market), and you only need to test about 16,667 items. It seems that the amount of testing has decreased, but please note that the unit price of the test for “activated + active + gender” is higher than that of “activated only”. You need to combine the unit price to calculate the total cost.

Also, consider the duplication rate of the number list. If the original list contains 10% duplicates, the actual number of items that should be detected will increase by 10%. The deduplication warehouse can automatically eliminate these duplications and reduce waste.

Build your monthly cost planning table (template) according to scenarios

The following provides cost calculation templates for three typical overseas scenarios. You can fill in your own estimated amounts and calculate the total budget based on the real-time unit price on the console. **Note: The template does not contain specific unit price figures, please refer to the actual price. **

Scenario 1: Telegram group sending + Indonesian market

• Goal: Promote a game app through TG private messages every month to Indonesian male users.
• Requirement: Detect 30,000 TG numbers, requiring activation + activeness in the past 7 days + male gender.
• Estimation steps:
  1. First extract the number list (you can bring your own or use the global number generator to generate it for free).
  2. Submit the task: Select the TG platform, and the detection type is “activated + active + gender”.
  3. Enable deduplication warehouse (if there are previous batches) before submission.
  4. Assuming that deduplication reduces duplication by 10%, the actual number of detected items = 30,000 × (1-10%) = 27,000 items.
  5. Check the unit price (yuan/item) of TG “activation + activity + gender” on the console and calculate the total cost.
  6. Monthly budget ≈ 27,000 × unit price.

Tips: Indonesian TG users are highly active, the pass rate may exceed 50%, and the final number of people reached will be better than conservative estimates. If the pass rate after the first test is higher than expected, the number of tests can be appropriately reduced next month.

Scenario 2: WhatsApp group + multinational mix

• Goal: Add 50,000 WhatsApp users to the group every month, covering the United States, India, and the Philippines. You only need to verify the activation status, no activity or gender is required.
• Requirement: To detect 50,000 WA numbers, you only need to enable detection.
• Estimation steps:
  1. Number source: mixed list of three countries, may contain 20% duplication.
  2. Remove duplicates first. The actual number of detected items is ≈ 50,000 × 80% = 40,000.
  3. Select WhatsApp on the console, check the detection type “Only activate”, and check the unit price.
  4. Monthly budget = 40,000 × unit price.
  5. Note: National distribution does not affect the unit price (the price of the same platform detection type generally does not differ by country), but national distribution will affect the cost of generating numbers (generation is free, no deductions are made).

Scenario 3: Line + Zalo comprehensive customer acquisition in Southeast Asia

• Goal: Promote e-commerce products to Thai and Vietnamese users through Line and Zalo platforms. Detect 20,000 Lines every month (requires gender recognition, mainly female users), detects 10,000 Zalo lines (requires activation + activity).
• Requirements: Line detection type is “activated + gender”, Zalo detection type is “activated + active”.
• Estimation steps:
  1. Filter the number list through the deduplication warehouse, which may save 15% duplication. Actual detection: Line (20,000×0.85=17,000), Zalo (10,000×0.85=08,500).
  2. Enter the console respectively, select Line’s “Activate + Gender” and Zalo’s “Activate + Active” to check the respective unit prices.
  3. Total monthly budget = (17,000 × Line unit price) + (8,500 × Zalo unit price).
  4. It is recommended to submit a small number of tests (for example, 2,000 tests each) first, and then increase the batch size after confirming the pass rate.

How to avoid overspending? 5 Best Practices for Screening Service Budget Control

1. First use a small number of samples to test the pass rate: Before formal large-scale testing, select 2000-5000 numbers for a full-type test (activation + active + gender) to get the true pass rate in the market. Then the total number of required detections is deduced based on the number of target hits to avoid blind recharging that causes the balance to be depleted too quickly.

2. Enable deduplication warehouse: After using the platform’s built-in deduplication function, the same number will only be detected once, and it is also valid across batches. It is recommended to use deduplication as the default operation for each submitted task.

3. Submit in batches by week or day: Do not submit the entire month’s testing volume at once. For example, a plan to detect 100,000 items per month can be divided into 25,000 items per week or 3,300 items per day. In this way, changes in the pass rate can be detected in time and subsequent task types can be adjusted; at the same time, a large amount of balance waste caused by an incorrect number list can be avoided.

4. Use the “Generate→Screen Number→Export” pipeline: The platform provides a global number generation function (free). You can specify the number segment when generating and submit the screen number directly after generation. The numbers generated in this way are brand new and have a very low duplication rate, which avoids the duplication problem that often occurs when purchasing numbers from outside. It is free to generate, and fees will be deducted only after screening numbers, thus controlling costs.

5. Follow the task completion notification: After submitting the task, bind the robot through Telegram to receive the completion notification. Check the result report immediately. If you find that the pass rate is abnormal (too low or too high), you can immediately stop subsequent tasks and adjust the strategy instead of waiting until the end of the month to find out about the overspending.

The overseas team has a limited budget. Should I choose pay-as-you-go or subscription package for number screening service?

For most overseas teams, especially entrepreneurial teams or studios with limited budgets, the pay-as-you-go model is more flexible than subscription packages. Here’s why:

Comparison dimensions	Pay-as-you-go	Subscription packages
Fee model	Pay what you use, and the balance will be valid for a long time	Fixed monthly fee, no waste if you don’t use up
Flexibility	The detection volume can fluctuate with the rhythm of customer acquisition, and the cost is low during off-peak periods	Fixed quotas must be consumed, which is not suitable for fluctuating needs
Deposit threshold	Minimum is about 50 USDT, acceptable for small teams	Usually requires higher prepayment or annual contract
Suitable for scenarios	Preliminary project exploration, seasonal marketing, multi-platform cross-testing	Stable large-scale continuous testing (such as millions per month)

KK-DATA adopts purely pay-as-you-go billing without any subscription or monthly fees. After recharging USDT (TRC20), fees will be automatically deducted based on the number of detections after the task is completed. This model is particularly suitable for:

• A team that has just started going overseas wants to test the market with a small batch first, and then decide whether to increase the volume.
• Multiple platforms operate simultaneously, and the detection volume of each platform is uneven, making it impossible to accurately predict monthly consumption.
• Need to control customer acquisition costs and avoid paying for unused quota.

If your monthly testing volume is very stable and exceeds a certain scale (such as one million), you can also contact customer service to evaluate whether there is a more suitable solution. But generally pay-as-you-go is flexible enough.

FAQ

**Q: If there are very few tests this month, will there be a monthly fee or minimum consumption? ** Answer: No. KK-DATA adopts pure pay-as-you-go billing, with no subscription packages and no monthly minimum consumption. Just recharge the balance, and after the task is completed, fees will be deducted based on the number of tests, and the balance will be valid for a long time.

**Q: For the same platform and the same detection type, is the unit price of numbers in different countries the same? ** Answer: Generally the same, but the specific price shall be subject to the real-time price of the console. Generating a number is free, and fees are not differentiated by country; screening fees are only related to the platform, test type and number of tests. For example, for Telegram’s “only activation” detection, the unit prices for Chinese numbers and American numbers are usually the same.

**Q: Can you really save money by deduplicating warehouses? How much can you save? ** Answer: Yes. The deduplication warehouse will compare numbers across tasks to avoid repeated detection and deduction of the same number. The savings percentage depends on the number duplication rate (usually 5%–20%), especially when you have multiple batches or repeatedly import numbers from the same source. It is recommended to check the deduplication option before submitting a task each time.

**Q: How do I know how much a mission will cost? ** Answer: Before submitting the task, the console will display the estimated cost, including the estimated deduction corresponding to the detection platform, type and number of items. You can adjust the task volume accordingly before submitting. In addition, you can also view the current unit price standards of each platform on the “Billing Page”.

**Q: Can the balance be refunded? What should I do if I can’t use it all? ** Answer: The recharged balance cannot be withdrawn, but there is no expiration time. It is recommended to recharge according to the monthly plan to avoid recharging too much at one time. If the project is suspended, the remaining balance can be reserved for next use. If you are worried about your idle balance, you can first recharge 50 USDT for a small test, and then recharge more after confirming the effect.

Now, you can start planning your monthly costs for screening services. First sort out the target reach number and number source, estimate the number of detections according to the method in this article, and then log in to the console to view the real-time price calculation and total budget. If you still have questions, feel free to contact customer service for help.

👉Log in to the console to start screening numbers 📞 Two-way contact customer service: https://t.me/kkdata_robot 📘 For more cases and templates, please refer to the document: https://docs.kkdata.cc/